Tuesday, June 9, 2015

(La Stampa) At this morning’s mass in St. Martha’s House,
Francis urged faithful not to turn to those “who can tell us exactly
what message Our Lady will be sending at 4’o’clock this afternoon”,
because “this identity is not Christian”. He urged against “watering
down” the Christians identity so that is becomes a “soft” religion. He
stressed that another risk which the testimony of those faithful to
Jesus faces, is the worldliness of those who “broaden their minds” so
much that they let everything in.

The Pope took the words of St. Paul to the Corinthian about the identity of Jesus’ disciples, as his cue for today’s homily. It
is true, he said, that “in order to reach this Christian identity”, God
“made us go on a long journey through history” before he sent his Son.
“In our lives, we must also go on a long journey in order to make our
Christian identity strong” and so that we may bear “witness” to it.

“It is true, there is sin” he said, “and sin makes
us fall, but we have the strength of the Lord to get up and go forth
with our identity. But I would also say that sin is part of our
identity: we are sinners, but sinners with faith in Jesus Christ. And it
is not just a faith of knowledge, no. It is a faith that is a gift of
God and entered us through God. It is God himself who confirms us in
Christ. And he has anointed us, he has placed the seal on us, he has
given an earnest penny, the seal of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is
God who give us this gift of identity.”

It is crucial “to remain faithful to this
Christian identity and to let the Holy Spirit – which is a guarantee, a
seal in our hearts – help us move forward in our lives.”

Christians are not he kind of people that follow
“a philosophy”, he warned. We are “anointed” with “the seal of the Holy
Spirit”. “It is a beautiful identity,” he underlined, “which can be seen
through testimony. Hence Jesus speaks to us about testimony as the
language of our Christian identity.” And this despite the fact that our
Christian identity “is tempted due to the fact that we are sinners:
temptations will always come our way” and our identity “can be weakened
or lost”.

The Pope warned against taking certain dangerous
paths: “Firstly, moving away from testimony and toward ideas, watering
down our testimonies. ‘Yes, I am Christian. Christianity is a nice idea. I
pray to God.” It is this way that we move away from Christ who is
concrete – because Christian identity is concrete, we read this in the
Beatitudes and this concreteness is also found in Matthew 25: Christian
identity is concrete – to a religion that is a bit soft, along the same
lines as Gnosticism. Scandal lies behind this. This Christian identity is scandalous. And the temptation is: ‘No, no, no scandal”.

“The cross is a scandal,” Francis explained, and
so there are those who seek God “with these slightly ethereal Christian
spiritualties”, modern gnostics”. Then, Francis warned, there are always
those “who constantly need Christian identity to be renewed”,
“forgetting that they were chosen, anointed,” that “they have the seal
of the Holy Spirit” and they go in search of seers, asking: 'Where are the seers who can tell us exactly what message Our Lady will be sending at 4’o’clock this afternoon?' And their lives depend on this. This identity is not Christian. God’s final word is “Jesus” and nothing else.”

Another way to backtrack on our Christian
identity, is worldliness: “Broadening our minds to fit everything in.
‘Yes, we are Christians, but this is ok…’Not only morally but also
humanly. Worldliness is human. This is how salt loses its taste. And we
see Christian communities and Christians call themselves Christians,
when they are unable or do not know how to bear witness to Jesus Christ.
And so they gradually lose their identity and this worldly nominalism
we see everyday. In the history of salvation, God, with the Father’s
patience, has brought us from ambiguity to certainty, to the
concreteness of the incarnation and redeeming death of his Son. This is
our identity.”

St. Paul, he concluded, praises the Son of God who
“was made man and died out of obedience,” “this is identity and that is
testimony”; it is a grace that “we must ask the Lord for: that he may
always grant us this gift of an identity which does not try to adapt to
things” to the point of “losing the taste of the salt”, becoming
insipid.

“How many voices in our materialist society tell us that happiness is to be found by acquiring as many possessions and luxuries as we can? But this is to make possessions into a false god. Instead of bringing life, they bring death.”- Pope Benedict XVI

"This past Wednesday I was in part of the hospital that was devoted to people who have memory problems like my father. The people here may have no idea who I am but they light up at the sight of a collar. People who cannot carry on a conversation click “on” and join in prayer as if there were little wrong with them, their faces relaxing in this moment of peace amidst the chaos of illness."- Fr. Valencheck

"The priest's life is not his own. He does not live it for himself and his personal fulfillment, but for the salvation of souls."- Fr. Richtsteig

"I am convinced that if we simply follow the liturgical books, say the texts and carry out the gestures properly, in a style continuous with our tradition, the Church’s liturgy has power the capture minds and hearts and transform them.

I starting forming this conviction before I became a Catholic through my experience of Novus Ordo Masses done in an entirely Roman traditional style, closely following the books.

The late Msgr. Richard Schuler would eventually articulate to me in words what I was experiencing in the church. "Just do what the Council asked… do what the Church asks."

Why is worship well executed according to the mind of the Church so effective?

Christ is the true Actor in the sacred action of the Church’s worship. He makes our hands and voices His own as He raises our petitions and offerings to the Father for His glory and our salvation.

Christ’s Holy Church has determined the way by which we may have this encounter with mystery in the liturgy, be taken up in the sacred action.

Although we have the right to our Rite celebrated as the Church desires, liturgy is not about me or us or even you in the pews." - Fr. Zuhlsdorf

"After celebrating Mass facing the Lord I can report these favorable effects from the priest's point of view:

1. I don't have to worry about where to look
2. I don't have to worry about what my face looks like
3. I can weep at the beauty and wonder of it all without concern
4. I can worship more freely and fully
5. I feel more at one with the people of God
6. I am on a journey to God with the people
7. I am not the focus of attention
8. The elevation of the host and the Ecce Agnus Dei have become more of a focus
9. I feel more part of the great tradition
10. I can't see who's not paying attention and feel I have to do something to get their attention back." - Fr. Longenecker

"My rector in Denver, when he was a young priest, was eating dinner at his secretary's house, a widow from Sicily. Thinking he was polite he said, 'If you wish you can call me Michael.' She stopped, put her hand on her hip, and, pointing at him with her wooden spoon, said, 'Don't think I call you Father because I think you're better than me! I call you Father to remind you who you're supposed to be and how you're going to be judged by our Lord!' He passes that lesson on to all his seminarians."- Fr. Andrew

Decalogue Against Temptation

1. Do not forget that the devil exists.
2. Do not forget that the devil is a tempter.
3. Do not forget that the devil is very intelligent and astute.
4. Be vigilant concerning your eyes and heart. Be strong in spirit and virtue.
5. Believe firmly in the victory of Christ over the tempter.
6. Remember that Christ makes you a participant in His victory.
7. Listen carefully to the word of God.
8. Be humble and love mortification.
9. Pray without flagging.
10. Love the Lord your God and offer worship to Him only.